Veto won't help farm economy

Published: Sunday, August 18, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, August 16, 2013 at 5:06 p.m.

Gov. Pat McCrory’s puzzling decision to veto modest immigration-related legislation is not only harmful to farmers and agriculture but shows how sharply divided the Republican Party remains when it comes to any sort of immigration reform.

Under North Carolina law that went into effect this spring, employers must use the E-Verify Internet-based system to show that new hires are eligible to work in the U.S. The screening is required after 90 days of employment. That period would have been extended to nine months under legislation that McCrory vetoed Thursday.

The extension would have been good for Henderson County because most of the labor-intensive agricultural operations here hire workers for more than 90 days, said Mark Williams, executive director of Agribusiness Henderson County. It also would have given farmers some reprieve from the problem of finding seasonal labor while the federal government grapples with immigration reform.

But the future of federal immigration reform remains murky since House Republicans rejected the reasonable, bipartisan reform bill passed by the Senate in June. That legislation included a number of rigorous provisions to create a pathway to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. It would have required them to pass criminal background checks, pay a fine and any taxes owed and show they have a job during a 13-year probationary period.

The Senate legislation also included numerous measures to prevent future illegal immigration, such as 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, completion of 700 miles of fence and high-tech enforcement measures along the U.S.-Mexico border. It would have also required a national version of E-Verify to be phased in over four years.

The Senate legislation was declared dead on arrival in the House. Republican leaders there have promised to come up with their own version, but many of the rank and file seem more interested in scoring points with anti-immigrant hard-liners than actually getting anything passed. Members such as Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, railed last week against any effort at reform as “amnesty” that would “benefit the elitists, political power brokers, employers of illegals.”

So how about Gov. McCrory? The former Charlotte mayor did not beat the “amnesty” drum in vetoing the agriculture-friendly nine-month exemption from E-Verify. Instead, the governor pounded the law-and-order argument, as well as the tired old saw that people in the country illegally are stealing jobs from American citizens.

“This bill would make it easier to hire illegal immigrants,” he stated in a news release. “My job is to enforce state and federal law and to uphold the U.S. Constitution, and I will use every tool necessary to do that and protect North Carolina jobs.”

McCrory said the legislation he vetoed “has a loophole that would allow businesses to exempt a higher percentage of their employees from proving they are legal U.S. citizens or residents. Every job an illegal immigrant takes is one less job available for a legal North Carolina citizen. We must do everything we can to help protect jobs for North Carolinians first and foremost.”

The governor’s veto poses problems for farmers who have complained repeatedly about a shortage of workers, and for areas such as Henderson County where agriculture is a $400 million chunk of the economy. When we force farmers to refuse jobs to illegal migrant workers, many of whom have been coming here for years to pick vegetables and apples, there won’t be enough “legal” applicants willing to take to the fields to bring the crops to market.

Bert Lemkes, co-owner of Van Wingerden International in Mills River, warns that efforts to tighten enforcement without federal immigration reform will continue to choke off the source of labor upon which agriculture depends. “Sadly, North Carolina has only tightened enforcement,” he said. “Enforcement only doesn’t solve anything.”

He’s right. Unfortunately, those in the anti-illegal immigrant, anti-“amnesty” crowd are just getting started in their xenophobic fervor to stop any kind of comprehensive federal immigration reform. They argue that any path to citizenship will permanently depress wages, enshrine Democrats in power and cede the Southwest to Mexico.

As Congress gears up for a fall showdown over immigration reform, it will be a good test of whether productive compromise is still possible in Washington, or whether crazy talk wins the day.

<p>Gov. Pat McCrory’s puzzling decision to veto modest immigration-related legislation is not only harmful to farmers and agriculture but shows how sharply divided the Republican Party remains when it comes to any sort of immigration reform.</p><p>Under North Carolina law that went into effect this spring, employers must use the E-Verify Internet-based system to show that new hires are eligible to work in the U.S. The screening is required after 90 days of employment. That period would have been extended to nine months under legislation that McCrory vetoed Thursday.</p><p>The extension would have been good for Henderson County because most of the labor-intensive agricultural operations here hire workers for more than 90 days, said Mark Williams, executive director of Agribusiness Henderson County. It also would have given farmers some reprieve from the problem of finding seasonal labor while the federal government grapples with immigration reform.</p><p>But the future of federal immigration reform remains murky since House Republicans rejected the reasonable, bipartisan reform bill passed by the Senate in June. That legislation included a number of rigorous provisions to create a pathway to citizenship for many of the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally. It would have required them to pass criminal background checks, pay a fine and any taxes owed and show they have a job during a 13-year probationary period.</p><p>The Senate legislation also included numerous measures to prevent future illegal immigration, such as 20,000 new Border Patrol agents, completion of 700 miles of fence and high-tech enforcement measures along the U.S.-Mexico border. It would have also required a national version of E-Verify to be phased in over four years.</p><p>The Senate legislation was declared dead on arrival in the House. Republican leaders there have promised to come up with their own version, but many of the rank and file seem more interested in scoring points with anti-immigrant hard-liners than actually getting anything passed. Members such as Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, railed last week against any effort at reform as amnesty that would benefit the elitists, political power brokers, employers of illegals.</p><p>So how about Gov. McCrory? The former Charlotte mayor did not beat the amnesty drum in vetoing the agriculture-friendly nine-month exemption from E-Verify. Instead, the governor pounded the law-and-order argument, as well as the tired old saw that people in the country illegally are stealing jobs from American citizens.</p><p>This bill would make it easier to hire illegal immigrants, he stated in a news release. My job is to enforce state and federal law and to uphold the U.S. Constitution, and I will use every tool necessary to do that and protect North Carolina jobs.</p><p>McCrory said the legislation he vetoed has a loophole that would allow businesses to exempt a higher percentage of their employees from proving they are legal U.S. citizens or residents. Every job an illegal immigrant takes is one less job available for a legal North Carolina citizen. We must do everything we can to help protect jobs for North Carolinians first and foremost.</p><p>The governor’s veto poses problems for farmers who have complained repeatedly about a shortage of workers, and for areas such as Henderson County where agriculture is a $400 million chunk of the economy. When we force farmers to refuse jobs to illegal migrant workers, many of whom have been coming here for years to pick vegetables and apples, there won’t be enough legal applicants willing to take to the fields to bring the crops to market.</p><p>Bert Lemkes, co-owner of Van Wingerden International in Mills River, warns that efforts to tighten enforcement without federal immigration reform will continue to choke off the source of labor upon which agriculture depends. Sadly, North Carolina has only tightened enforcement, he said. Enforcement only doesn’t solve anything.</p><p>He’s right. Unfortunately, those in the anti-illegal immigrant, anti-amnesty crowd are just getting started in their xenophobic fervor to stop any kind of comprehensive federal immigration reform. They argue that any path to citizenship will permanently depress wages, enshrine Democrats in power and cede the Southwest to Mexico.</p><p>As Congress gears up for a fall showdown over immigration reform, it will be a good test of whether productive compromise is still possible in Washington, or whether crazy talk wins the day.</p>